## TL;DR

Sequence timing is configuration, and configuration needs guardrails. Express waits in the right unit, cap total touches and total duration, enforce cool-downs globally, and simulate the schedule before a single message goes out.

## The query

```text
salesloft 'cadence step type not supported for this action'  -  agent triggering an unsupported step type
```

## Use this when

- sequences send too often, never end, or restart too soon after ending
- wait steps configured in the wrong unit or with no caps

## Not for

- send-time timezone conversion (see the timezone skill)
- duplicate sends from double-processing (see the idempotency skill)

## Steps

### Step 1: Audit the timing configuration as data

Dump the sequence's waits, caps, and cool-downs as a table and read them like a human: are the waits in days or hours, is there a max touch count, does the sequence end? Most cadence bugs are visible in a 30-second read of the config.

**Expected: a readable schedule table; the misconfiguration is obvious in it.
### Step 2: Fix the units and add the missing caps

Waits in the intended unit (days, not hours), a max touch count, a max sequence duration, and a global cool-down between sequences for the same lead. A sequence with no end is a bug, not a strategy.

**Expected: every sequence has a touch cap, a duration cap, and a cool-down.
### Step 3: Enforce cool-downs globally, not per-sequence

The cool-down must live above individual sequences: after any sequence ends (or a breakup sends), the lead is ineligible for any new sequence until the cool-down expires. Per-sequence cool-downs do not stop sequence-hopping.

**Expected: a lead finishing sequence A cannot enter sequence B until the cool-down clears.
### Step 4: Simulate the schedule before launch

Run the sequence logic against a fake clock and a test lead and print every scheduled touch with timestamps. '7 emails in 9 days' is unmissable in a simulation and invisible in config.

**Expected: a simulated timeline for a test lead; touch count and spacing verified.
### Step 5: Add the business-day and quiet-hours guard

No touches on weekends or outside the lead's business hours unless the sequence explicitly opts in. This guard sits under the sequence logic and applies to every send path.

**Expected: simulated timelines show no weekend or off-hours touches.

## Why it happens

Cadence bugs are unit errors and missing caps: hours where days were meant, no maximum touches, no cool-down between sequences. The agent executes the config faithfully, which is exactly the problem when the config is wrong.

## Edge cases

- Re-enrollment after a breakup email needs the cool-down most; that is the angriest lead.
- A/B test variants need the same caps; an uncapped variant will find the edge.
- Time-zone handling interacts with cadence; see the timezone skill for the send-time layer.

## Finding this skill

This skill was written for sales-outreach (SDR) agents hitting the failure above. Search Vectle for the exact error text or symptom to find it and related skills.

## Provenance

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_hhvcqnqV6SwbdsRhkWrK2A